Bodie by Nyssa Kathryn
Chapter 26
“These new bartenders better be good, or I’ll be keeping you and Maya here until I can find other workers.”
Bodie looked up from the glass he was filling with beer to glance at Trish beside him. Behind her, he noticed Tom, one of the new bartenders, serving two women. Bodie didn’t need to look across the room to know that the other newbie, Tina, was cleaning tables.
Both were well-known Keystone locals. Both in their early twenties, with no experience working in a bar.
“It wasn’t long ago that Maya and I were pretty terrible at this job. If memory serves me correctly, Maya broke about two dozen glasses in the first couple weeks, I had to pour out a few drinks before I got the ratios right, and we were both slow. But look at us now? We could run the joint.”
Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but they definitely wouldn’t run the place into the ground if left alone for a few nights.
Trish laughed. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. And the difference is that I knew you both had potential. I’m not too sure about these guys. They look…less efficient.”
Bodie pushed the beer across the bar, taking money from the customer before turning back to Trish. “What can I say, Maya and I set a high standard. People as awesome as us don’t just grow on trees.” He gave Trish a wink, expecting a laugh, or at least a smile. If anything, her face became more serious.
“You’ve done good.” Trish took a step forward and lowered her voice. “When that girl walked in here looking for a job, I felt her fear and desperation. It was like a thick fog that surrounded her. That’s gone now. She’s almost a different woman. I’m glad you could help her.”
Bodie was glad too. He just wished all the danger was gone.
“It was good of you to give her a job when she so desperately needed one.” Had she not, Maya may have left town, and who knew if Bodie would have been able to find her. “It was also good of you to take pity on my sad ass and let me work here. Not to mention letting Maya and I have shifts together.”
Bodie had never asked for that. Trish had just scheduled them that way. The woman knew more than she let on.
She lifted a shoulder. “Like I told you when we first met, I know what it feels like to run from someone. You looked like someone who could help her.” Trish finally cracked a smile. “And I could see you two were both besotted with each other. Who am I to stand in the way of love? But you’d better be coming back and visiting. Regularly.”
Bodie chuckled. “Was always planning on it.”
“Good.” Trish gave him a final nod before stepping away to serve a customer.
Bodie searched the crowd for Maya. She was taking drinks to a table at the back, close to the one where Wyatt, Quinn, and Oliver sat. The three of them had been there since opening and would likely stay until closing.
Having his friends close by helped Bodie breathe a little easier, not knowing where Sinclair and his remaining men were. Had it still been just him in town, he would have fought tooth and nail to ensure Maya’s safety, but having his team there took some of the pressure off.
The next hour passed quickly. The bar filled and Bodie found his focus taken up with getting drinks out.
“You taking that girl away from here, boy?”
Bodie stopped in front of Roe, who sat in the same spot where he’d been sitting since Bodie’s first shift. Without needing to be asked, Bodie grabbed his usual beer.
“Yes, sir, I am. Taking her to meet the rest of my team. Men who are also my family.”
Roe pressed his lips together, making himself look every bit the former law enforcement officer he’d once been. “She deserves a man who’s gonna look after her. You that man?”
Bodie pushed the beer across the counter. “Maya is damn strong and does a good job of taking care of herself. But when she needs extra support, I’ll be there. By her side. Protecting her. She deserves the best, and I hope to be that for her.”
He’d just about dedicate his life to being the best man he could for the woman.
Roe studied Bodie’s face for another beat before nodding. “Good. Ain’t nothing I hate more than a man not treating a woman right.”
“Couldn’t agree more, Roe. And anytime you find yourself around Marble Falls, pop in and check for yourself. There’s a spare room at my place with your name on it.”
Some of the intensity dropped as his features lightened. “There a bar in Marble Falls?”
Where the hell wasn’t there a bar? “Of course.”
Roe lifted the beer to his lips. “Might just take you up on that offer.”
Bodie hoped he did.
Hell, he was going to miss Keystone and all its characters. Not only would he be leaving Roe and Trish, he would also be leaving the town where he’d met and fallen in love with Maya.
When there was a lull in customers, his gaze swung across the room. It had been an hour since he’d talked to her. Touched her. Kissed her.
Too damn long.
Moving around the bar, he walked right up to the woman. Without uttering a word, Bodie pulled her down the hall and into the staff room. Then he kissed her.
She didn’t stop to ask questions. She just kissed him back.
Damn, but the woman shattered him. Her full lips moving on his had Bodie’s heart pounding against his ribs. Her soft curves pressed close made his body ache with need.
It took a full minute before either of them could pull away. Even then, it was tough. When he looked down at her, it was to see her beautiful eyes glazed over with lust.
“Mmm, that was nice.”
Bodie wouldn’t call it nice. He would call it fire seeping into his bones. “I missed you.”
She giggled. A soft, lyrical giggle that had him clenching his fists to stop from pulling her to him again. “You kissed me an hour ago.”
He touched his lips to hers. This time softly. “I know. I counted the minutes.”
And the seconds.
Her eyes heated. Then she sighed and gently pushed him away. “We need to get back out there. It’s busy. And the new staff are struggling.”
As if on cue, a crash sounded from the bar. It was loud enough for Maya to hear, because an “I told you so” smile touched her lips.
Reluctantly, Bodie took Maya’s hand and led them out. He spotted one of the new bartenders immediately. Tina was placing the broken shards of glass on her tray. It was just about a mirror image of all those weeks ago, when Maya had dropped her own tray, and no one helped.
Bodie growled softly at the complete disregard of others. “I’ll help her.”
Pressing a kiss to Maya’s temple, he watched as she headed to the bar. Bodie moved straight to Tina and dropped to his haunches. “Let me help.”
Her gaze shot up. The look in her eyes made Bodie hesitate.
He saw fear.
He’d met her earlier that night, and he’d thought she seemed nervous then. Now, it was almost as if she were a step away from a complete breakdown. And it wasn’t just the look in her eyes that had him pausing. He could hear her heart beating about a hundred miles an hour in her chest.
Bodie’s brows pulled together. Reaching out a hand, he touched her arm. “Hey, are you okay?”
She opened her mouth to respond, but it seemed to take her a few tries to speak. “Yes. I, uh, I’m okay.”
She certainly didn’t look it. Bodie wanted to push, but Tina placed the final shard of glass on the tray and stood. She moved away without sparing him a backward glance.
Okay, that was definitely weird.
Bodie headed straight to the table his friends were sitting at, all the while keeping Maya in his sights.
“Jobs, you did a background check on the new staff, didn’t you?”
Wyatt nodded. “Tom Jarvis. Dropped out of college six months ago. Lives with two friends here in Keystone. Likes to party. The woman is Tina Abalos. She also works at the local coffee shop and lives with her mother. My digging found that they may be living here illegally, but that’s really none of my business. Why do you ask?”
Bodie ran a hand through his hair. “Might be nothing. The woman just seems overly nervous. Scared even.”
Oliver sat a little straighter. “Could it just be first-shift nerves?”
He looked across the room to see Tina coming out of the short hall holding a box of beer. She walked behind the bar, stopped near the middle, and placed the box on the floor before going toward the back room again.
“Maybe.” Maybe not.
Bodie sought out Maya. She stood at the end of the bar, near the hall, talking to Roe and laughing at something he said.
Suddenly, his gut clenched. He had no idea why. A sick feeling told him to go to her.
Bodie had taken a step in that direction when a loud explosion roared through the room.
The force of the blast threw Bodie backward, his body hitting a table. He didn’t stay down for long. He was on his feet within seconds.
Chaos surrounded him. Smoke clouded the room, and fire billowed from the center of the bar. People were running around screaming while others lay injured or motionless on the floor.
Icy panic clawed its way up his throat. He needed to find Maya.
Bodie moved across the room to the last place he’d seen her. He searched the cluttered floor. She wasn’t there.
Fuck. Where was she?
His panic turned to fear. There was an exit in the storage room. If someone had taken her, that’s where they’d go.
Running down the hall, he pushed through the back door and stepped outside just in time to see a man shoving Maya into the back seat of a four-door pickup truck. The man jumped in the front and the truck started moving down the street—fast.
Terror stabbing at his chest, Bodie took off after it. He’d never tested his speed before. He could only hope that he was as fast as a speeding truck, or at least fast enough to keep it within his sights.
His friends would be able to track him through the GPS on his phone. Bodie’s job was to keep up with the truck. Wyatt or Oliver would need to find a car and follow. Hopefully, a fast one.
The truck wasn’t built for speed. That was something in Bodie’s favor.
He couldn’t let Maya out of his sight. It wasn’t an option.
Bodie ran as fast as his body allowed, keeping pace with the truck…just. People might see how fast he was moving. Notice he wasn’t normal.
None of that mattered. Maya’s safety was his only priority.
He saw the gun poke out the passenger window before any shots were fired.
Bodie dodged the first bullet. Then the next. Each time, it cost him precious distance.
When the truck turned a corner, then another, Bodie almost lost them. He had to push himself, push his body, to the absolute limit to catch up.
A car sounded from behind him. He didn’t take his eyes off the truck. A couple of seconds later, the car caught up, and a passenger door opened.
Bodie threw his body inside the vehicle. In the process, Oliver had to slow down enough to put distance between them and the truck. The moment the door was shut, Oliver pressed his foot to the gas pedal.
“You okay?”
Bodie wasn’t so much as breathing heavily. But that in no way made him okay. “I’m ready to murder the assholes.”